Monthly Archives: September 2014

Today, the Countywide Vision Environment Element Group consisting of experts in environmental protection, land use, infrastructure, utilities, business and regulatory agencies met to discuss draft principles for how to best balance habitat preservation and conservation with expected population and economic growth.

The draft principles were developed by Dudek, an environmental and engineering consulting firm hired earlier this year by San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) to complete a countywide habitat preservation and conservation study.

The study will help develop a recommended comprehensive structure and approach to the preservation and conservation of habitat for threatened and endangered species in a way that is beneficial for the health of the environment, the economy, and the citizens of San Bernardino County.

During the past several months, Dudek staff has collected information about existing conservation efforts throughout the county.

Dudek staff provided the Environment Element Group with their insights from their interviews of officials with cities and towns, the County, regional planning and infrastructure entities, environmental protection groups, resource conservation districts, state and federal regulatory and resource agencies, including:

Some municipalities have addressed habitat conservation by designating lands as open space, adopting hillside protection ordinances, and preparation of individual habitat conservation plans.

State and federal wildlife agencies would like to see a connected and comprehensive approach to habitat conservation.

Dudek staff also presented 15 draft policy and biological principles for habitat conservation to the Environment Element Group for its feedback, including:

Increase certainty for both the preservation/conservation of habitat as well as for land development and infrastructure permitting.

Recognize that San Bernardino County needs to have a growing economy to be able to afford the acquisition and ongoing management of habitat. Conservation efforts should complement the managed growth, economic development and population growth anticipated by Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).

Recognize that participating in a more comprehensive approach to conservation planning will be voluntary, but that participating in the more comprehensive approach will provide benefits for most of those participating.

Dudek staff will incorporate today’s input from the Environment Element Group into its analysis and its development of a recommended conservation framework and strategies.

The Environment Element Group will review Dudek’s recommendations later this year before a final report is provided to the SANBAG Board of Directors.

Anyone with valuable insights into conservation planning efforts anywhere in the county is encouraged to contact Stephanie Standerfer at Dudek – sstanderfer@dudek.com.

Celebrate reading by participating in the largest shared reading experience! Two reading sessions for Jumpstart’s Read for the Record will be hosted Tuesday, Oct. 21, at First 5 San Bernardino’s office, 735 E. Carnegie Drive, Suite 150, San Bernardino, CA 92408. The sessions are at 11 a.m. and 3p.m.

Readers will be joining the campaign to beat last year’s national record of more than two million readers in a shared reading experience by reading “Bunny Cakes” by Rosemary Wells. Activities include entertainment (11 a.m. session only) and crafts for participating readers.

The Colton Joint Unified School District’s Community Cabinet is calling on volunteers who want to help children learn to read. Get involved and promote literacy by training to become a reading buddy for students in kindergarten through third grade.

A reading buddy is a parent, or a volunteer from a business or wider community who gives their time to help children develop their reading skills. Usually a reading buddy will be paired up with one child who will read to them for up to 20 minutes.

The session should ideally take place on the same day and at the same time each week. A reading buddy takes an interest in the child and works with them for a minimum of a semester so that they can develop a good relationship. Reading buddies are role models, their ultimate aim being to develop within the children a love of reading, increase the children’s confidence and self esteem and to leave the children with a real sense of achievement.

Reading buddies provide schools with an extremely important resource – their time – and as a result they are very much appreciated and valued in the schools they attend.

On Wednesday, the Colton Joint Unified School District’s Community Cabinet met for a brainstorming session between principals and assistant principals in the school district and leaders from business, government, faith-based organizations, parents and community outreach organizations.

The discussions were held in a World Café format and centered on the questions what resources and support the community could offer to Colton Joint Unified schools.

About 115 people attended the meeting and praised the format and content of the discussions. Some of the comments made were:

“I believe a collective vision was established, needs and resources were discussed, and unifying approach was created. The community members were sincerely interested in what they could do to support. I really liked the idea of calibration of the Kinder entry assessment with the preschool that feeds our elementary schools. It was a very positive experience overall!

“I found it to be EXTREMELY beneficial to have a conversation with members of our community. With Common Core and Linked Learning being the focus for education as a whole, going forward, it is imperative that we build those connections within the community and actively close the gap between college and high school. By essentially opening up our doors to the community members and by asking them “how we can help them?” We are better preparing their potential workforce and clientele to better suit their needs once high school has been completed.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of yesterday’s event. I felt it was useful and a productive way to connect the community to our schools. I enjoyed the World Café format because it made it easy to have valuable conversations. My only thought is that smaller groups would have been better only because it was hard to hear everyone at the group. Thank you for allowing me to participate.”

“It gave me the time and opportunity to network with people/organizations that I would not normally interact with. Listening to the community members and organizations made me feel that we are more in alignment with our expectations for students and working together to problem solve and find solutions. The questions yesterday were a good starting point to begin conversations, develop ideas and start new relationships formed from a common purpose.”

Click here for more information about the Community Cabinet’s timeline for the school year. The Colton Joint Unified School District’s Community Cabinet was formed to seek input on proposed community priorities for supporting the success of every child from cradle to career, which is one of the Countywide Vision’s regional goals.

San Bernardino County Schools convened a meeting Tuesday to discuss how leaders of different school grade levels would develop strategies to help children and young adults achieve cradle to career success.

Task force leaders received an overview and training for their roles including identifying evidence-based strategies and resources to help students meet their academic and career goals.

A regional goal of the Countywide Vision is to support the success of every child from cradle-to-career which includes:

Educating the public on the broad impacts of students dropping out of school and the benefits of completing high school and advancing to post-secondary education

Engaging parents and the community as partners in efforts to improve students throughout their educational careers

Providing adult intervention, tutoring and mentorship to students

Addressing the social and economic needs of families that impact educational success

Setting higher goals for educational and career achievement in the community

Educating and training the workforce for existing local career opportunities and attract new high-demand jobs to the area

Fostering entrepreneurship and incorporate training that provides students with the skills to create their own jobs

The San Bernardino County Board of Education adopted a Cradle to Career Roadmap in February. The roadmap identifies key milestones in a child’s personal, social, academic and career readiness.